Baking a plate chiller to Sanitize?

[funkenhoser]

Hello all,

Have any of you ever baked a plate chiller in order to sanitize it, and free it from debris??

I'm looking for some instructions, ie.bake temp and duration

Thanks
Funk

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

I've heard bad things about baking a plate chiller. May carbonizes residue making it imporssible to remove. I don't bake ..... I use a hop spider and end of boil whirlpool to keep most debris out of the chiller then rinse really well with PBW then sanitizer then water while recirculating. I then drain and store with ports up to enable evaporation. Before chilling, I recirculate hot wort to sanitize. So far 20 batches on a therminator with no problems.

 

[wyowolf]

never baked mine, immediatly after using it blast the hell out of it by hooking water hose to it, back and forth a few times...the high pressure flow seems to clean it just fine... then some pbw and rinse...

 

[Pharaoh]

I rinse mine thorough with the hose (backflow + regular flow) and let it dry at least overnight. I put foil on the inlet & outlet for the wort, put it in a cool oven, and bake at 340 for at least an hour. I do the same thing with my bottles and haven't had any issues yet. However take this with a grain of salt because I haven't brewed nearly as often as I used to prior to getting the plate chiller.

 

[IslandLizard]

I've been baking my plate chiller for years, every 3-4 brews, or when I think it needs it, in with the bread, pizza, or whatever.

Backflush well (both ways) to get most debris out first. After the bake, when it has cooled, or a week or month later, back flush again, until clear water comes out. I also regularly recirculate boiling PBW through the chiller, the pump and hoses.

Avoid letting Starsan (or any other acid) sit in it for extended time. It may slowly dissolve the copper brazing.

 

[DRog00]

I've been baking my plate chiller for several years... probably 4 or so. I bake at 350 for an hour. Prior to use, I rinse with iodophor to clean all the ash out. I've never had an issues with baking.